Baylor Upsets No. 3 UCLA At Cathedral City Classic

Softball

Baylor Upsets No. 3 UCLA At Cathedral City Classic

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. -- The Baylor softball team (9-5) bounced back from an 8-4 loss to Cal State Fullerton (3-10) to upset No. 3 UCLA 7-5 (13-2) Saturday on day two of the Cathedral City Classic. The win marked the highest ranked opponent the Lady Bears have defeated since knocking off No. 1 Florida, 1-0 on Feb. 8, 2009

“That win was great for this team and program,” head coach Glenn Moore said. “We played well in game two, and we needed to after playing so poorly in the first game.”

Tiffany Wesley went 5-for-7 on the day, while Courtney Nieten totaled five RBI in the pair of games.

Game One CSF 8, Baylor 4

Baylor jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first as Wesley and Kayce Walker led off the inning with singles followed by a walk by Jordan Vannatta. That allowed an RBI-single from Nieten to plate Wesley, while Nicole Wesley followed with an RBI-single and Dani Leal walked for an RBI of her own, for a three-run cushion.

The Lady Bears added to the lead when Bree Hanafin belted a solo home run to center field to lead off the third, giving BU a 4-0 advantage.

Cal State Fullerton cut the lead to one in the bottom of the third, scoring three unearned runs off Courtney Repka, after a throwing error kept the inning alive and allowed runs to score.

A two-RBI double in the fourth gave the Titans a 5-4 lead and a triple in the fifth put the lead at two.

Baylor stranded a pair of runners in the sixth and seventh, respectively, and Fullerton added two more runs on a two-run shot by Torrie Anderson in the sixth to give the Titans the 8-4 win.

Repka (7-3) went 6.0 innings, allowing 10 hits, giving up eight runs, four earned, walked two and struck out five in a losing effort.

Game Two Baylor 7, No. 3 UCLA 5

Nieten had four RBI and Whitney Canion threw four scoreless innings en route to a 7-5 upset over UCLA in game two.

Canion (2-2), limited by a 60-pitch count, went 4.0 innings, allowing just two hits, walking three and striking out seven for the win.

T. Wesley set the tone at the beginning of the game with a triple on the first pitch. That allowed a sac fly from Vannatta to score Wesley for a 1-0 lead.

Canion kept the UCLA bats at bay, striking out four in the first two innings to keep the lead.

Baylor added three in the third, as a pair of walks and a single loaded the bases for Nieten, who singled to third, scoring a pair of runs. A passed ball put runners at second and third, and Shelton’s single scored Vannatta from third to put the advantage at four.

Nieten struck again, this time a solo shot in the fifth, for a 5-0 lead over the second-ranked Bruins.

Repka replaced Canion in the fifth, but the Bruins fought back in the sixth, as Charlotte Dolan hit a three-run homer to cut the Baylor lead to two.

The Lady Bears answered the call in the seventh, as T. Wesley singled and Kayce Walker doubled to put runners at second and third. After Vannatta got hit by a pitch, Wesley got thrown out at home trying to score on a wild pitch for the first out. Nieten came up and grounded a ball to third that was overthrown to first, allowing Walker and Vannatta to score for a 7-3 lead.

UCLA cut the lead in half in the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back blasts, but Repka got Burney to strike out swinging to end the game, picking up the save.

Baylor will be back in action Sunday, wrapping up the tournament with No. 2 Arizona at 11:00 p.m. CT. Fans can hear live play-by-play on baylorbears.com.